Living without pain poses its own set of dangers

13-year-old Ashlyn Blocker has been asked if she was Superman, but her congenital insensitivity to pain is far from a superpower. Blocker is one of a handful of people who cannot feel pain, something that’s only recently been linked to a genetic mutation that prevents pain-sensing nerves from sending signals to the brain. That means that while she can still tell the difference between hot and cold or different kinds of touch, Ashlyn grew up without the signals that let most of us know when something has gone wrong. The New York Times Magazine has profiled Ashlyn and her family’s work to create a camp for children with the same condition, as well as the everyday steps they take to let Ashlyn live a normal life.